It turned out to be a human with pale skin, rare black hair draped over his shoulders, a kind smile on his face, and a white robe with wide sleeves made of some unknown material, surprisingly able to reflect a bit of sunlight.
"Human Mage, I mean no harm." He extended his arms forward, palms open and facing up, indicating he wasn’t carrying any weapons: "Mage, who are you? Why have you come to my domain?"
Lynch glanced at the man before him. Even as he spoke, thousands of Snake-man warriors had already surrounded the hillside completely. The Mage assessed the situation, retracted his Lightning Spell, and temporarily dispersed the Energy Ball: "My name is Wizde, who are you? What is this place?"
"Mr. Wizde, welcome to my space as a guest, where you’ll receive the warmest welcome." The man walked up, stood before Lynch, and gave a slight bow: "Please don’t be frightened by these little snakes, they’re actually very obedient and cute. Oh, not introducing myself is impolite, I’ve just been discourteous, please forgive me. My name is difficult to pronounce using the human tongue, if you don’t mind, just call me Dazhe. Welcome to this space."
"Space? What are you talking about? I don’t understand, Mr. Dazhe. Could you please explain it to me in detail?"
"Of course, esteemed guest. But standing on this hillside is not the place to talk, please follow me, I believe my servants have already prepared the most sumptuous banquet and most comfortable seats waiting."
Lynch followed behind Dazhe, passing through the formation created by the Snake-man army. The scaled creatures on both sides were over two meters tall, yellow eyes with vertical slit pupils staring at the human mage in front of them. The large knives in their hands swayed gently, accompanied by the continuous hissing of snake tongues, threatening and taunting Lynch.
The Mage felt a sense of oppression, a terrifying pressure expressed through sheer numbers. If faced with any single Snake-man alone, Lynch was absolutely confident of victory, but against an army of Snake-men covering the mountains, he feared he would be crushed to death before having a chance to cast any spells.
Dazhe, walking ahead, showed no concern for Lynch’s predicament, allowing his subordinates to threaten and taunt the Mage. Although he didn’t turn his head back or show any particular expression on his face, Lynch believed he was secretly laughing to himself.
So the Mage employed the Eye of Insight. Instantly, his eye sockets became nothing but pitch-black voids, with a vague vortex spinning where his eyeballs once were. Simultaneously, a Dancing Light Technique was cast upon his eyes, with constantly changing flashes appearing at the center of the black vortex.
The Snake-men who witnessed this scene instinctively stepped back, tightening their grip on their weapons, with their snake tongues darting even more rapidly in and out of their lips—they felt an enormous threat.
Ordinary mages wouldn’t dare to do such a thing; casting a luminous spell on their own eyes would only result in blindness. However, possessing the Eye of Insight, Lynch was no longer afraid of various intense lights, and the brightness of the Dancing Light posed no effect on him.
"Here we are, this is the place." Dazhe pointed to a palace ahead, leading Lynch inside.
This was a castle built on a stone platform over five meters high, divided into seven levels, with each higher tower level becoming smaller. Each level had many windows opening outward, some for observation and others just as arrow slits. The tower edges extended outward and rose into the air at the ends, with a green roof strikingly vibrant under the blue sky.
The interior of the castle was floored with wood, where many Snake-men glided silently across the polished surface. Unlike the army outside, most of the Snake-men here were female, dressed in thin clothes and face veils, barely covering their scales, yet accentuating their naturally graceful figures. A peculiar aroma permeated throughout the castle.
Lynch sniffed, identifying a special extract within the fragrance that could arouse desires in creatures. He cast a "Spirit Barrier" on himself to block all effects of mental influence.